Full Moon
by Master Solo
Summary: The story of Kouga Kuchiki's unnamed wife after her husband was sealed.


Note: I wrote this before episode 252 came out.

Author: Solo

Disclaimer: I don't own the song or Bleach.

In his time alone in that prison cell, he remembered. He remembered the betrayals, the way all of Soul Society rose up against him, and the one person that he still missed.

Sitting in a corner all alone,  
staring from the bottom of his soul,  
watching the night come in from the window, window

He remembered when they first met in their academy days. He was the resident hotshot and leader of a most notorious crew of pranksters from the advanced class of his year while she was the Kuchiki princess---not just any member of the noble house, but Ginrei's only surviving child and next head of clan.

While most of the girls in their class were gossips, the entire lot of them, she remained silent and focused on improving her kido skills. Gods, her form was elegant beyond elegant. Hoping to make her smile, he convinced her to join his crew of jokesters on a few of their adventures.

For a long time, she remained as indifferent as any Kuchiki, treating him the way she did any other male friend, except for the occasional wink or blush that he could never be sure of. Then, just as patience was near its end, they were assigned to take some first years out to practice against dummy Hollows in the outskirts of the Rukongai. She asked to meet with him alone to prepare for the upcoming challenge, or at least that was what she admitted publicly. When he arrived, he was greeted with their first kiss.

It didn't occur to him back when he was a kid that his rage was about to burn away any chance of being left alone with his beloved goddess ever again.

It'll all collapse tonight, the fullmoon is here again  
In sickness and in health, understanding so demanding  
It has no name, there's one for every season  
Makes him insane to know......

Running away from it all  
"I'll be safe in the cornfields", he thinks  
Hunted by his own,  
again he feels the moon rising on the sky

The pink clad woman appeared at what seemed to be a regular kimono shop in one of the lower numbered Rukongai districts. As the shopkeeper brought out a rather unusual-looking garment, the two women appeared to chat meekly about the recent massacre, with the shopkeeper doling out as much information as she could. The girl in pink donned the strange cloak, covering almost her entire body.

As the customer disappeared towards the edge of known Soul Society territory, the shopkeeper could hear her say something that sounded like, "Heart of the south, eye of the north, finger of the west, foot of the east…"

Find a barn which to sleep in, but can he hide anymore  
Someone's at the door, understanding too demanding  
Can this be wrong, it's love that is not ending  
Makes him insane to know.......

A shadow loomed over the cave that he was hiding in, a tall and slender silhouette of a woman. There was not a trace of reiatsu underneath the cloak. He heard a few mumbles, but when he recognized them, it was too late. He was already bound and in the middle of some sort of kido field. The next thing he knew, he was back behind Kuchiki manor, right in front of the Senkaimon gate. Once again, there was that shadowy figure, gathering kido energy at her fingertips. Less than a second later, he was shoved through the gate, into the material world.

She should not lock the open door  
(run away, run away, run away)  
Fullmoon is on the sky and He's not a man anymore  
She sees the change in him but can't  
(run away run away, run away)  
See what became out of her man... Full moon

It had been months since The Incident and all seemed peaceful at Kuchiki manor.

It was mealtime, but she just couldn't eat, even though she knew that the little spirit in her stomach, which was growing large enough to begin to show, relied on her to bring in a large amount of food each day. That little one, the only thing she had left of _him_. She couldn't eat when the plates before her contained his favorites, when he was supposed to be there next to her, trying his hardest not to wolf everything down all at once. Her legs soon gave out from the lack of fuel and saw before her not the familiar Kuchiki manor, but the welcome scene of her wedding, which seemed like yesterday.

They stood on their balcony, facing a massive crowd of commoners. At first, he tried out the manners that she convinced Ginrei to attempt to teach him. It was the sort of polite but dead boring conversation that she could have with any number of those noblemen that she rejected. Then there was half of a teasing remark about her particular kimono. Then a suggestion that she use kido to throw some fireworks. He reasoned that if the Shibas typically did that, then it was appropriate for all nobles.

Her family spent the next few days trying to teach him the finer points of all upper-level noble family heads and how Kuchikis considered such flagrant displays to be inappropriate.

The guy was so innocent, couldn't help but speak his mind, and jumped to so many conclusions that it was endearing, refreshing, and hilarious. By the gods, the absence of his sweet presence in the present time was tearing her to pieces.

Swimming across the bay,  
the night is gray, so calm today  
She doesn't wanna wait.  
"We've gotta make the love complete tonight..."

In the mist of the morning he cannot fight anymore  
Hundred moons or more, he's been howling  
Knock on the door, and scream that is soon ending  
Mess on the floor again...

The Kuchiki lady was bleeding heavily and running a fever as her body struggled to push the little spirit out. Meanwhile, the crimson ribbons of her soul threads were tearing themselves to pieces like buildings amidst a tornado. Some of the healers said that it was because the child held an extraordinary amount of power, capable of reaching captain-level after fully maturing. It was not uncommon for such children to wreak great havoc upon mothers. Some said it was because she failed to eat properly when left unsupervised. Some blamed her declining health on the weather, arguing that the months of rain and persistently colder temperatures, followed by the snow blizzard that was currently raging, were choking out her fired based reiatsu.

But Ginrei knew the truth, which could be summed up in one name that nobody dared to mention, one name of one man who should have been there, at the old man's side. She held the stoic face of a Kuchiki, but never hid her true self from the one who taught her how to use that trademark Kuchiki mask.

There was no hiding from Ginrei the fact that she was one of the anonymous Kido Corps officers who posed as civilians in the Seireitei, a low level one to be exact. She had just enough power to use a few mid to high level spells in quick succession, and she drained it all in order to shove her traitorous love outside of Soul Society's territories. She, despite the pregnancy, would have been fine if she'd rested, but instead, she spent the afternoon going from one influential house to another, using all of her political power as Lady Kuchiki to plead for Soul Society to spare her man.

But the monster committed so many crimes that all of her pleas only got his sentence reduced to a sealing. She could not hold back her tears upon hearing the news. Knowing her ability to mask feelings, her heart had shattered. And so, at that critical point, when she should have rested and eaten, she retreated to fast and mourn. Her soul threads began to decay then. Going out to visit the burial site in all sorts of weather, including rain and snow, only accelerated the dying process. It was as if he ran her through with that rogue zanpakuto, too.

She should not lock the open door  
(run away, run away, run away)  
Fullmoon is on the sky and he's not a man anymore  
She see the change in him but can't  
(run away, run away, run away)  
See what became out of her man

She should not lock the open door  
(run away, run away, run away)  
Fullmoon is on the sky and he's not a man anymore  
She see the change in him but can't  
(run away, run away, run away)  
See what became out of her darling man

In the hours following the child's birth, all except for the baby seemed quiet as the woman remained unconscious. Her body was still and what remained of her crimson soul threads stabilized to the point where they tore themselves apart at a slower, steady rate. Then, for a minute, she stirred.

"Forgive Kouga. He's still a good man," the Kuchiki princess whispered weakly. Then, she dissolved into a swirl of glowing embers and scattered into the air, leaving the captain alone with her raven haired newborn.

She should not lock the open door  
Full moon is on the sky and he's not a man anymore  
Woah.....Hell Ya!  
See what became out of that man


End file.
